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Solar Orbiter

Solar Orbiter is a solar observation spacecraft developed and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with NASA, launched on 10 February 2020 aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.^[1]^[2] Designed as the first mission to provide close-up observations of the Sun's polar regions and inner heliosphere, it carries a suite of ten scientific instruments—four for in-situ measurements and six for remote sensing—to study the Sun's atmosphere, magnetic fields, and the origins of the solar wind.^[3]^[4] The mission's primary scientific objectives include investigating the Sun's 11-year magnetic cycle, the mechanisms behind coronal heating, the formation and acceleration of the solar wind, and the sources of energetic particles that influence space weather and planetary environments.^[1]^[4] Equipped with a heat shield capable of withstanding temperatures up to 500°C (970°F) while protecting the instruments from 13 times the intensity of sunlight at Earth's distance, Solar Orbiter performs perihelion approaches as close as 42 million kilometers (0.28 AU) from the Sun's surface.^[4]^[5] Its elliptical orbit, inclined progressively through a series of gravity assists from Venus and Earth, enables unprecedented views of the solar poles at latitudes up to 24° by the end of the nominal mission in 2027 and up to 33° by the end of the extended mission in 2030.^[4]^[6] Among its key instruments, the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) captures high-resolution images of the solar corona, while the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) maps the photospheric magnetic field; in-situ tools like the Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) and Magnetometer (MAG) measure plasma properties and heliospheric fields directly.^[3] NASA's contributions include the Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) for tracking solar wind structures and support for the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD).^[2]^[3] Since entering routine operations in November 2021, Solar Orbiter has delivered groundbreaking data, including its first high-resolution images of the Sun in July 2020 and the world-first detailed views of the Sun's south pole in March 2025, revealing dynamic magnetic structures and advancing understanding of solar activity cycles. In November 2025, analysis of these polar observations showed the magnetic fields drifting toward the poles at speeds of 10 to 20 meters per second, faster than previously expected.^[1]^[7]^[8] These observations, combined with in-situ detections of solar energetic particles traced back to their solar origins, enhance predictions of space weather events that could impact Earth and other planets.^[9] The mission, with a planned operational lifespan extending to 2027 and potential extensions to 2030, continues to provide insights into the fundamental processes driving our star and its influence on the Solar System.^[4]

Mission Background

Development and Objectives

The Solar Orbiter mission, led by the European Space Agency (ESA), originated from proposals in the late 1990s to advance understanding of solar and heliospheric physics beyond prior missions like Ulysses and SOHO. Formally proposed in 2000 by a team led by E. Marsch, it was initially selected in October 2000 as a "flexible" mission candidate under ESA's Horizons 2000+ long-term science program, with further studies emphasizing out-of-ecliptic observations and close solar approaches.^[10] In 2011, it was adopted as the first medium-class (M1) mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program, following detailed assessments by ESA and industry partners.^[10] The mission became a joint ESA-NASA effort, with NASA providing launch support via an Atlas V rocket and contributions to select instruments under the International Living with a Star initiative.^[11] The primary scientific objectives of Solar Orbiter center on investigating the fundamental connections between the Sun and the heliosphere, addressing key questions about solar wind origins, heliospheric variability, energetic particle acceleration, and the solar dynamo that drives magnetic cycles.^[12] By combining in-situ measurements of solar wind plasma, magnetic fields, waves, and particles with high-resolution remote-sensing imagery, the mission aims to trace heliospheric phenomena back to their solar surface origins, providing insights into how solar activity influences space weather and the broader solar system environment.^[12] A cornerstone goal is to achieve the first-ever high-resolution observations of the Sun's polar regions, which are critical for understanding magnetic field reversals and polar coronal holes but remain obscured from Earth's vantage point.^[4] Specific goals include performing in-situ sampling of relatively pristine solar wind and fields at distances as close as 0.28 AU to capture data unaltered by interplanetary propagation, and imaging the solar atmosphere in ultraviolet, visible, and extreme ultraviolet wavelengths to study dynamic events like flares and coronal mass ejections.^[12] The mission seeks to link photospheric magnetic activity—such as sunspots and active regions—to heliospheric effects, including the acceleration of solar energetic particles and the structuring of the interplanetary magnetic field.^[12] These investigations will occur during close perihelion passes every six months, enabling coordinated observations with NASA's Parker Solar Probe for complementary inner heliospheric data.^[12] Launched on 10 February 2020, Solar Orbiter's nominal mission of seven years encompasses a 1.8-year cruise phase followed by science operations beginning in November 2021, with an orbital inclination increasing to 24° relative to the ecliptic by mission end.^[13]^[1] An extended phase of up to three additional years, potentially through 2030, would further raise the inclination to over 30°, allowing even better polar views and prolonged heliospheric monitoring.^[13]

International Collaboration

The Solar Orbiter mission represents a major international collaboration led by the European Space Agency (ESA), which funds approximately 70% of the total mission cost of about €1.5 billion, while NASA contributes the remaining 30%.^[14] This partnership enables comprehensive study of the Sun and heliosphere through shared resources and expertise.^[2] Under the 2010 Memorandum of Understanding between ESA and NASA, ESA oversees the design, development, integration, and operation of the spacecraft platform, as well as providing six full scientific instruments and elements of others.^[15] NASA, in turn, supplies the Atlas V launch vehicle, tracking and navigation support via the Deep Space Network, and contributions to four instruments, including the full Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) and the Heavy Ion Sensor (HIS) for the Energetic Particle Detector suite.^[2] Instrument development involves international consortia, ensuring diverse technical input and risk distribution.^[1] Additional contributions come from ESA member states and institutions, including the United Kingdom (leading the Magnetometer and Solar Wind Analyser), Germany (Polarimetric Heliospheric Imager via the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research), France (Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment and Radio and Plasma Waves), and Italy (Coronagraph).^[16] These partnerships foster collaborative science, with joint observations coordinated alongside NASA's Parker Solar Probe to enhance heliospheric measurements.^[1]

Spacecraft Design

Structure and Systems

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft features a robust structure designed to endure the extreme thermal and radiation environment near the Sun, with a primary focus on a dedicated heat shield that forms the front-facing barrier. The heat shield, measuring 3.1 m by 2.4 m, consists of a sandwich panel with a support structure of 2.94 m by 2.27 m and a 54 mm thick aluminum honeycomb core and multiple layers of thin titanium foil, including a 50 μm outer layer coated with a high-emissivity black material known as EnbioBlack to optimize heat dissipation. This design allows the shield to withstand surface temperatures up to 500°C and solar flux equivalent to about 13 solar constants (roughly 17.5 kW/m²) during perihelion approaches at 0.28 AU from the Sun, while maintaining the spacecraft body within operational limits.^[17]^[18] The spacecraft body is constructed from aluminum sandwich panels and a carbon composite central tube, providing structural integrity under launch loads and thermal stresses, with overall dimensions of 2.5 m × 3.1 m × 2.7 m excluding deployed appendages. At launch, the total wet mass was 1800 kg, including approximately 209 kg for the science payload and about 249 kg of bipropellant (149 kg nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer and 100 kg monomethylhydrazine fuel) for attitude and trajectory control maneuvers. This mass distribution ensures stability and sufficient delta-V for the mission's orbital requirements without compromising the compact form factor necessary for solar proximity operations.^[19]^[10] Key subsystems support precise operations in the harsh environment. The attitude and orbit control system (AOCS) employs four reaction wheels for fine pointing, augmented by two star trackers for high-accuracy attitude determination (better than 3 arcseconds over 15 minutes) and pairs of fine sun sensors and inertial measurement units for redundancy and safe-mode recovery. Communication is handled via a high-gain antenna supporting X-band telemetry at a downlink frequency of 8.42 GHz for engineering data, with Ka-band used for high-volume science data transmission to ground stations. The data handling subsystem includes a solid-state mass memory with three redundant modules, each providing 32 GiB (approximately 256 Gbit) of storage capacity, enabling onboard processing and buffering of up to several days' worth of data before downlink.^[17]^[20]^[17] Protection mechanisms are integral to maintaining subsystem functionality, featuring multi-layer insulation (MLI) blankets in high-temperature (HTMLI), low-temperature (LTMLI), and standard configurations to minimize radiative heat transfer across the spacecraft. Dedicated radiators, including a stood-off radiator assembly (SORA) on the anti-sunward panels, coupled with ammonia-filled heat pipes and flexible thermal straps, actively dissipate excess heat from electronics and ensure critical components operate within -30°C to +50°C, with some instrument interfaces cooled to as low as -200°C via isolated thermal paths to prevent solar heating interference. These features collectively shield the spacecraft from the intense solar environment while supporting long-term reliability.^[17]^[21]^[17]

Power and Propulsion

The power system of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft relies on two solar arrays equipped with triple-junction gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cells to generate electricity from solar radiation. These arrays, consisting of six panels in total (three per wing), each measuring 2.1 m by 1.2 m, provide a total deployed length of 18 m for the spacecraft. At 1 AU from the Sun, the arrays generate sufficient power to meet the spacecraft's maximum demand of approximately 1,100 W, but power output decreases with distance; however, at the mission's closest approach of 0.28 AU, the arrays are tilted to manage thermal loads, resulting in an effective generation of around 730 W to balance energy needs with overheating risks.^[19]^[10]^[20] To support operations during brief eclipse periods or low-power phases, such as launch and early orbit, the system includes lithium-ion batteries with a capacity sufficient for those intervals, ensuring continuous supply to essential subsystems.^[10] Efficiency in the power system is achieved through several design features tailored for the harsh near-Sun environment. The solar arrays are tiltable up to 45 degrees around their longitudinal axis, allowing operators to adjust their orientation to minimize direct solar exposure and keep cell temperatures below 230°C, thereby preserving efficiency despite the intense flux of up to 13 times the solar constant at perihelion.^[20] Additionally, an advanced power management system prioritizes energy allocation to critical instruments and spacecraft functions, using a regulated 28 V bus to distribute power while shedding non-essential loads if necessary during high-demand periods.^[20] These features ensure reliable operation over the 10-year nominal mission, with the arrays' carbon-carbon substrate providing structural integrity under thermal stress.^[19] The propulsion subsystem employs a chemical bipropellant system using monomethylhydrazine (MMH) as fuel and nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) as oxidizer, enabling precise orbit adjustments and attitude control. It features four 220 N main thrusters for major delta-V maneuvers, such as trajectory corrections following gravity assists, supplemented by sixteen 10 N reaction control system (RCS) thrusters for fine pointing and stability.^[20] The total propellant load supports a delta-V capability of approximately 720 m/s (including margins), sufficient for the mission's heliocentric orbit insertions and inclination changes via Venus and Earth flybys.^[10] Fuel management is handled by onboard autonomous software that optimizes thrust vectoring and burn sequences, particularly during gravity assists, to maximize efficiency and conserve propellant for long-term operations.^[10] This system plays a key role in executing trajectory corrections essential for maintaining the spacecraft's orbital path.^[20]

Scientific Instruments

Remote-Sensing Instruments

The remote-sensing instruments on Solar Orbiter form a coordinated suite designed to image and spectrally analyze the Sun's surface, atmosphere, and energetic phenomena from afar, providing high-resolution observations of the photosphere, chromosphere, corona, and flares. These six instruments—EUI, Metis, PHI, SoloHI, SPICE, and STIX—operate synergistically to map magnetic fields, trace plasma dynamics, and diagnose coronal environments, enabling studies of solar activity and its connection to the heliosphere.^[22] The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) measures the photospheric vector magnetic field, line-of-sight velocity, and continuum intensity to probe the solar interior and convection zone. It consists of a high-resolution telescope with a 17 × 17 arcmin² field of view and a full-disc telescope, operating at a wavelength of 617.3 nm using a tunable LiNbO₃ Fabry-Pérot etalon for polarimetry. PHI achieves a spatial resolution of approximately 200 km at perihelion and performs onboard inversion of Stokes parameters to derive magnetic field maps at 0.5 arcsec/pixel in magnetogram mode. Calibration occurs pre-launch and in-flight using dedicated units, ensuring accurate vector magnetograms for helioseismic analysis.^[22] The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) captures images of the solar atmosphere from the chromosphere to the corona, focusing on transition region structures and coronal heating processes. It comprises three telescopes: two high-resolution imagers (HRIs) operating at 17.4 nm (Fe IX/X, corona) and 121.6 nm (HI Lyα, chromosphere), with a pixel scale down to 1 arcsec (100 km² at perihelion), and a full-sun imager (FSI) at 17.4 nm and 30.4 nm covering a 3.8° field of view. EUI supports high-cadence imaging up to 1 arcsec resolution and synoptic modes, with co-pointing to PHI and SPICE for contextual alignment during observations. Onboard calibration uses lamps and stellar sources, and data rates reach up to 80 Mbps in high-resolution mode, reduced to about 300 kbps for downlink.^[22] The Multi-Element Telescope for Imaging the Corona (Metis) is a coronagraph that images the off-limb solar corona in both visible light (VL, 580–640 nm, polarized brightness) and ultraviolet (UV, H I Lyα at 121.6 nm, resonant scattering). It employs an external occulting disk (1.1–2.9 R⊙ field of view) and internal Lyα suppression to study coronal structure, mass ejections, and solar wind sources. Metis achieves a spatial resolution of about 11 arcsec in VL and performs simultaneous imaging in both bands, with polarimetric capabilities in VL for deriving electron density and outflow velocities. Pre-launch and in-flight calibration uses ground tests and solar observations, with data rates up to 1 Mbps, compressed for transmission.^[23] The Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) images the inner heliosphere by detecting Thomson-scattered sunlight from free electrons in the solar wind and interplanetary dust, tracking density structures, coronal mass ejections, and shocks. It consists of four identical wide-field telescopes with fields of view spanning 4° to 40° (total 70° × 70°), operating in visible light (600–700 nm) with a pixel scale of 9 arcmin. SoloHI, a NASA-led instrument, resolves solar wind features from 3 to 45 solar radii, complementing in-situ measurements. Calibration includes pre-launch tests and in-flight using zodiacal light, with data rates up to 100 kbps after compression.^[24] The Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) instrument performs extreme ultraviolet (EUV) imaging spectroscopy to diagnose plasma properties in the on-disc corona and trace solar wind source regions. It operates in the 70–105 nm range (with bands at 70–79 nm for O VI and 97–105 nm for Ne VIII, Mg IX, etc.), using a slit spectrograph that scans fields matching EUI HRIs and PHI's high-resolution views, achieving ~1 arcsec spatial resolution. SPICE measures electron temperatures, densities, and outflow velocities through spectral line analysis, supporting composition studies. Calibration is conducted pre-launch and in-flight with targets, and its data rates are up to 50 Mbps for rasters, compressed to ~10 Mbps for transmission.^[22] The Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) provides hard X-ray imaging spectroscopy of solar flares and coronal sources to study accelerated electrons and thermal plasmas. It covers an energy range of 4–150 keV with 1 keV spectral resolution, using indirect Fourier imaging via tungsten grids (pitches from 0.038 to 1 mm) and 32 cadmium telluride (CdTe) detectors, yielding angular resolutions from 7 to 180 arcsec. STIX observes flare timing, locations, and spectra, complementing in-situ data on energetic particles. Ground and in-flight calibration employs the Crab Nebula and solar flares, with data rates up to 10 Mbps, often reduced to 1–10 kbps via photon counting and compression.^[22] Collectively, these instruments co-point during perihelion passes for integrated observations, generating data at rates up to 120 kbit/s on average for the full payload during science windows, prioritized for high-resolution imaging near the Sun.^[20]^[22]

In-Situ Instruments

The in-situ instruments on Solar Orbiter are designed to directly measure particles, fields, and waves in the solar wind and surrounding heliosphere, providing contextual data on the plasma environment that complements remote-sensing observations. These instruments operate in a harsh thermal environment close to the Sun, with measurements enabling studies of solar wind origins, magnetic field structures, and particle acceleration processes. The suite includes four main instruments: the Magnetometer (MAG), Radio and Plasma Waves (RPW), Solar Wind Analyser (SWA), and Energetic Particle Detector (EPD).^[3]^[10] The MAG instrument measures the direct current (DC) magnetic field in the heliosphere with high precision, using two fluxgate sensors mounted on a deployable boom to minimize spacecraft interference. The boom extends the sensors to approximately 1 m and 3 m from the spacecraft body, enabling gradiometer measurements that characterize spacecraft-generated magnetic signals and provide vector magnetic field data with a resolution of about 4 pT in the ±128 nT range. This setup allows continuous monitoring of magnetic field evolution, fluctuations, and gradients, essential for understanding solar wind heating and particle acceleration.^[25] The RPW instrument detects magnetic and electric fields as well as plasma waves, capturing wave spectra from quasi-DC to 16 MHz for electric fields and 10 Hz to 500 kHz for magnetic fields. It includes antennas for electric field measurements and a search-coil magnetometer for magnetic fluctuations, providing data on turbulence, Langmuir waves, and solar radio emissions, while also estimating electron density via quasi-thermal noise analysis. RPW's high time-resolution capabilities support studies of wave-particle interactions in the solar wind.^[26] The SWA suite analyzes the bulk properties and composition of solar wind ions and electrons through three sensors: the Proton and Alpha Sensor (PAS), Proton and Electron Analyser (PEA), and Heavy Ion Sensor (HAS). PAS measures 3D velocity distributions of protons and alphas over an energy range of 200 eV/e to 20 keV/e; PEA covers electrons from 1 eV to 5 keV, distinguishing core, halo, and strahl populations; and HAS resolves heavy ions from He to Fe in the 0.5 keV/e to 60 keV/e range, including suprathermal ions. These sensors collectively provide comprehensive plasma composition data to trace solar wind streams back to their coronal sources.^[27] The EPD detects suprathermal and energetic particles, measuring electrons, protons, and heavy ions across a broad energy spectrum from suprathermal levels up to several hundred MeV/nucleon, with specific coverage including electrons from ~20 keV to >20 MeV, protons from ~20 keV to >100 MeV, and ions from ~40 keV/n to 200 MeV/n. Comprising sensors like the Electron Proton Telescope (EPT), Suprathermal Ion Spectrograph (SIS), and High Energy Telescope (HET), EPD resolves composition, directional distributions, and temporal variations to investigate particle acceleration mechanisms near the Sun.^[28] All in-situ instruments operate in continuous normal mode during cruise phases for baseline solar wind monitoring, with coordinated snapshot sampling every 300 seconds to capture high-cadence data across the suite. At perihelion passages, they switch to burst modes for enhanced temporal resolution—such as MAG achieving up to 128 vectors per second—targeting kinetic-scale physics in transients like shocks, with triggers enabled by onboard thresholds from EPD or RPW for autonomous activation. This operational strategy ensures efficient data collection given telemetry constraints, prioritizing high-impact intervals near the Sun.^[29]

Launch and Trajectory

Launch Sequence

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft was assembled by Airbus Defence and Space at its facility in Stevenage, United Kingdom, with final integration of the instruments and systems completed in September 2018.^[30] Following environmental testing at the IABG facility near Munich, Germany, the spacecraft underwent electromagnetic compatibility, vibration, thermal vacuum, and deployment tests for its solar arrays and booms.^[31] In October 2019, Solar Orbiter was transported by air from Germany to Cape Canaveral, Florida, arriving for final pre-launch preparations at the Astrotech Space Operations facility.^[32] The mission's original launch target of January 2017 was postponed to February 2020 due to technical difficulties during spacecraft development, including challenges with the thermal protection system, as well as scheduling conflicts with other missions on the shared Atlas V launch manifest.^[33] At Cape Canaveral, the spacecraft was integrated with its United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 rocket in January 2020, encapsulated within the payload fairing on January 20, and mated to the launch vehicle on February 1 after propellant loading and system checkouts.^[33] Solar Orbiter lifted off successfully on February 10, 2020, at 04:03 UTC from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, aboard the Atlas V 411.^[10] The rocket's Centaur upper stage performed two burns to achieve Earth escape velocity, with spacecraft separation occurring approximately 53 minutes after liftoff at T+52:39.9.^[34] Telemetry acquisition followed shortly thereafter over Australia, and initial health checks confirmed all critical systems were nominal.^[35] In the immediate post-separation period, the solar arrays deployed and unfolded within about 40 minutes, providing power to the spacecraft.^[36] Over the next two days, the instrument boom extended to position in-situ sensors away from spacecraft interference, followed by deployment of the medium-gain antennas and Radio and Plasma Waves instrument antennas for communication and science operations.^[11] The high-gain antenna was extended later in the sequence to enable full data downlink capabilities.^[37]

Orbital Path and Maneuvers

Solar Orbiter's heliocentric orbit is elliptical, with a period of approximately 180 days, designed to enable repeated close approaches to the Sun while progressively raising the orbital inclination for observations from high solar latitudes. The perihelion distance begins at 0.52 AU shortly after launch and decreases through a series of trajectory adjustments, reaching 0.323 AU during the first science perihelion in March 2022 and stabilizing near 0.29 AU thereafter, with the mission's designed minimum of 0.28 AU planned for later phases.^[38] The aphelion extends beyond 1 AU, providing a balanced elliptical path that supports both in-situ measurements near the Sun and distant views during the orbit's farther phases.^[10] The orbital evolution relies on gravity assists from Venus and Earth to reduce perihelion and increase inclination, supplemented by delta-V maneuvers using the spacecraft's chemical propulsion system for trajectory corrections. The mission incorporates five Venus flybys during the nominal phase, beginning in December 2020, and one Earth flyby in November 2021, with subsequent Venus assists continuing through 2025 and beyond to achieve the desired path.^[38]^[10] These flybys exploit planetary gravity to alter the spacecraft's velocity and plane, gradually raising the inclination from 0° at launch to 17° by 2025 and up to 33° in the extended mission phase; the February 2025 Venus flyby successfully achieved this 17° inclination.^[10]^[38] Each assist is followed by propulsion burns to optimize the resulting orbit and ensure precise alignment for scientific operations.^[39] The trajectory design incorporates a 3:2 orbital resonance with Venus, particularly to facilitate the gravity assists.^[10] This resonance, achieved through the gravity assist sequence, allows Solar Orbiter to maintain access to varied heliocentric distances and latitudes without excessive propulsion demands, maximizing the mission's scientific return on the Sun-heliosphere connection.^[10]

Mission Operations

Operational Phases

The Solar Orbiter mission is structured into distinct operational phases to ensure systematic instrument activation, scientific data acquisition, and progressive orbital adjustments. The cruise phase, spanning from launch in February 2020 to November 2021, focused primarily on instrument commissioning and initial testing following the spacecraft's entry into heliocentric orbit. During this period, all ten scientific instruments underwent calibration and performance verification, including the activation of remote-sensing and in-situ sensors to prepare for full operations. Gravity assists at Earth and Venus were utilized to refine the trajectory, enabling the transition to science-oriented activities without major disruptions. A brief ramp-up phase followed in late November to December 2021 after the Earth gravity assist, involving initial science operation preparations.^[17]^[40] The nominal mission phase, commencing in December 2021 and planned to continue through 2026, emphasizes coordinated scientific observations combining continuous in-situ measurements of the solar wind, magnetic fields, and particles with targeted remote-sensing campaigns. Remote-sensing instruments operate intensively during three 10-day windows per orbit, centered around perihelion passages for high-resolution imaging of the solar atmosphere and surface, while in-situ instruments provide ongoing data throughout the 168-day orbital period. These windows, occurring approximately every six months aligned with orbital dynamics, involve 8-10 hour daily payload sequences to maximize data return under thermal constraints, with coordinated pointing sequences (Solar Orbiter Observation Plans, or SOOPs) integrating observations from complementary missions like Parker Solar Probe. The phase includes incremental increases in orbital inclination via Venus gravity assists, reaching up to 24° by 2027 to access higher-latitude solar regions.^[41]^[4]^[17] Following the nominal phase, the extended mission, anticipated to begin after 2026 pending fuel reserves and performance, will achieve a maximum inclination of 33° for unprecedented polar observations, building on the high-latitude access initiated in February 2025. This phase prioritizes sustained in-situ sampling of polar solar wind streams and synoptic remote-sensing for full-disk solar imaging, with adjusted observation windows to accommodate shorter orbits and varying Earth-spacecraft geometry. Mission planning occurs in hierarchical layers: 9-12 month Mission Level Plans for remote-sensing window placement, 3-6 month Long Term Plans for SOOP optimization, 1-2 week Short Term Plans for instrument sequencing, and 2-3 day Very Short Term Plans for pointing refinements, overseen by the Science Working Team and Principal Investigator teams at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Madrid.^[41]^[17] Ground operations are centered at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, where daily commanding uplinks occur via ESA's ESTRACK network, including the Malargüe station in Argentina, supplemented by NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) for high-latitude and distant contacts. Science data, totaling 1-10 Gbit per orbit from compressed in-situ and remote-sensing payloads, is downlinked primarily through X-band at rates up to 230 kbps, with low-latency quick-look products (reduced-resolution subsets) transmitted daily for anomaly detection and planning adjustments. Full science datasets are stored onboard in a 96 GiB solid-state mass memory and publicly released via the Solar Orbiter Archive three months post-downlink, though delays up to several months occur during apohelion when the spacecraft is farthest from Earth.^[4]^[17]^[42] To mitigate risks from solar proximity, the spacecraft incorporates redundant systems including hot-redundant power distribution and telecommand decoding, cold-redundant processors, and cross-strapped interfaces for single-failure tolerance. Autonomous fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) operates across five levels, enabling fail-operational continuity or safe-mode entry for up to 76 days without ground intervention, with strict limits on off-pointing (≤6.5° near perihelion) to protect the heat shield from thermal overload at 17.5 kW/m² solar flux. These measures, including onboard control procedures and mission timelines, ensure resilience against radiation-induced anomalies and propulsion contingencies during close solar approaches.^[17]

Current Status and Timeline

Solar Orbiter, launched on 10 February 2020, completed its first Venus gravity assist maneuver on 27 December 2020, followed by its initial Venus-assisted perihelion on 10 February 2021, at a distance of 0.49 AU from the Sun.^[38] The spacecraft then performed an Earth gravity assist on 27 November 2021, which refined its trajectory for subsequent solar approaches.^[40] Additional Venus flybys occurred on 9 August 2021, and 4 September 2022, enabling closer perihelia, such as the 12 October 2022, pass at 0.29 AU.^[38] The mission reached a key milestone with its fourth Venus gravity assist on 18 February 2025, which increased the orbital inclination from approximately 7.7° to 17°, allowing unprecedented views beyond the ecliptic plane.^[38] Following this, Solar Orbiter achieved a perihelion on 16 September 2025, at 0.29 AU, during which all ten scientific instruments remained fully operational with no major anomalies reported.^[38]^[7] As of November 2025, the spacecraft is approximately four years into its nominal mission phase, which extends through December 2026, having transitioned through cruise, ramp-up, and nominal operations.^[19] The mission's data archive continues to expand, supporting ongoing analysis of solar and heliospheric phenomena.^[43] Looking ahead, Solar Orbiter is preparing for its fifth Venus gravity assist on 24 December 2026, which will further elevate the inclination to 24°, initiating the high-latitude observation phase and enabling closer study of the Sun's polar regions.^[38] If approved, an extended mission phase could continue until approximately 2030, achieving a maximum inclination of 33° and providing comprehensive polar coverage.^[19]^[44]

Scientific Results

Early Discoveries

During its initial perihelion passage in March 2022, Solar Orbiter's Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) and Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) provided direct evidence linking coronal holes to fast solar wind streams exceeding 500 km/s. EUI high-resolution images captured dynamic features within a small southern polar coronal hole, revealing open magnetic field lines that serve as conduits for plasma escape, while SWA in-situ measurements confirmed the plasma's high speed and Alfvénic fluctuations consistent with origins in these holes. This linkage demonstrated how interchange reconnection at hole boundaries releases fast wind parcels, contributing to heliospheric variability observed over multiple days.^[45] The Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) instrument detected numerous microflares during the mission's commissioning and early cruise phases, with energies below 10^28 erg, accelerating non-thermal electrons that correlated strongly with Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) observations of electron beams. Cross-analysis of STIX hard X-ray spectra and EPD suprathermal electron fluxes showed that these microflares, often rooted in quiet-Sun regions, produce power-law distributions indicative of magnetic reconnection-driven acceleration, with electron spectra extending to tens of keV. Such events highlight microflares as a pervasive mechanism for seeding energetic particles into the solar wind, observed in over 60 instances by mid-2021.^[46] Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) vector magnetograms mapped photospheric magnetic configurations connected to switchback structures in the solar wind, revealing their origins near boundaries of coronal holes where mixed-polarity fields generate outward-propagating Alfvén waves. These switchbacks, characterized by abrupt reversals in the radial magnetic field component, were traced to footpoints with opposite polarity patches, explaining localized speed enhancements in the fast wind. PHI data indicated that switchbacks account for a notable fraction of solar wind speed variations, modulating plasma flows through wave reflections and reconnection.^[45] In the 2021 cruise phase, the Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) delivered the mission's first wide-field views of density structures in the inner heliosphere, capturing Thomson-scattered light from electrons in solar wind features out to 30 solar radii. Images from February 2021 showcased propagating coronal mass ejections and streamer blobs as enhanced density fronts, with time-series tracking their radial evolution and revealing co-rotating interaction regions. These observations marked the initial characterization of mesoscale density inhomogeneities, providing context for in-situ plasma measurements and demonstrating SoloHI's capability to visualize wind structuring close to the Sun.

Recent Polar Observations

In early 2025, Solar Orbiter reached a heliographic latitude of approximately 17 degrees relative to the Sun's equator, enabling the mission's first direct observations of the solar south pole during its March perihelion passage. These views, captured from an angle of 15–17 degrees below the ecliptic, marked a significant milestone in probing the Sun's polar regions, which had remained largely inaccessible to prior missions due to their orbital constraints.^[7] Analysis of data from the Magnetometer (MAG) and Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) instruments, published in November 2025, revealed poleward migration of the magnetic field at the south pole at speeds of 10–20 meters per second. This drift, observed over eight days starting March 16, 2025, reflects the transport of magnetic network elements via supergranular flows with scales of 20–40 megameters, consistent with the Sun's 11-year activity cycle as it approaches polarity reversal during solar maximum.^[47]^[48] Complementary images from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI), acquired on March 16–17, 2025, provided the first detailed glimpses of the polar corona, showcasing intricate open magnetic field lines and dynamic plume structures amid the million-degree plasma. These observations, combined with PHI mappings, depicted a tangled magnetic landscape at the pole with mixed polarities extending to the limb, challenging expectations of a more uniform field during cycle maximum.^[7] By providing the first in-situ and remote-sensing data from the poles, Solar Orbiter's 2025 observations lay the groundwork for refined predictions of solar activity influences on the heliosphere.^[47]^[48]

References

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ESA - Solar Orbiter - European Space Agency
Solar Orbiter is the most complex scientific laboratory ever sent to our life-giving star, taking images of the Sun from closer than any spacecraft before and ...Image gallery · Launching and operating... · Solar Orbiter ready to depart... · Here
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Solar Orbiter - NASA Science
Feb 9, 2020 · Solar Orbiter is a Sun-observing satellite with 10 science instruments, all designed to provide unprecedented insight into how our local star 'works.
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Instruments - ESA Science & Technology - European Space Agency
Jul 2, 2020 · The Solar Orbiter payload accommodates a set of in situ and a set of remote-sensing instruments, with a total payload mass of 209 kg.
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ESA's Solar Orbiter mission is conceived to perform a close-up study of our Sun and inner heliosphere - the uncharted innermost regions of our Solar System - ...
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How ESA-NASA's Solar Orbiter Beats the Heat
Feb 4, 2020 · Solar Orbiter's 324-pound heat shield reflects and guides heat away from the spacecraft and can withstand up to 970 F.
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Solar Orbiter gets world-first views of the Sun’s poles
### Summary of Achievement
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Double trouble: Solar Orbiter traces superfast electrons back to Sun
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[8]
The Solar Orbiter mission - Science overview
Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA. The spacecraft has been developed by Airbus and is being operated by ESA.
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Solar Orbiter Launch Takes Solar Science to New Heights - NASA
Feb 10, 2020 · A previous ESA-NASA mission, Ulysses, launched in 1990, achieved an inclined orbit giving scientists their first measurements of the space ...<|control11|><|separator|>
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Objectives - ESA Science & Technology - European Space Agency
Solar Orbiter will measure solar wind plasma, fields, waves and energetic particles close enough to the Sun to ensure that they are still relatively pristine.
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Science Operations
The total extended mission duration is 10 years. The orbit characteristics of Solar Orbiter evolve significantly from one orbit to the next as do the designated ...
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Solar Orbiter launches on historic mission to study the sun's poles
Feb 9, 2020 · NASA's total monetary contribution to the mission is roughly $386 million, with ESA contributing $877 million out of a grand total cost of ...
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[PDF] MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE NATIONAL ...
The Solar Orbiter mission will be specifically devoted to solar and heliospheric physics, providing close-up and high-latitude observations of the Sun.
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Solar Orbiter - MPS
A selection of 10 instruments has been made for the scientific payload of the Solar Orbiter mission. This comprehensive suite of instruments supports multiple ...<|control11|><|separator|>
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Solar Orbiter: Mission and spacecraft design
The main scientific goal of Solar Orbiter is to address the central question of heliophysics: 'how does the Sun create and control the heliosphere?<|control11|><|separator|>
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Shielding Solar Orbiter from the Sun - European Space Agency
Jan 28, 2020 · Its cameras will peek through an advanced shield designed to dissipate heat while keeping the rest of the spacecraft within a protective cone of ...Missing: subsystems dimensions<|control11|><|separator|>
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ESA - Solar Orbiter factsheet - European Space Agency
... Solar System by 24º (nominal mission) to 33º (extended mission). Closest approaches: Solar Orbiter will make a close approach of the Sun every six months.
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Solar Orbiter Mission - eoPortal
Nov 14, 2013 · - Solar Orbiter carries ten science instruments – nine are led by ESA Member States and one by NASA – all working together in close ...
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[PDF] Thermal Design and Developments for the Solar Orbiter Spacecraft
Jul 16, 2020 · The Solar Orbiter thermal control is based on using a sun-pointed, flat heat shield to limit the sun flux on the spacecraft structure. By using ...
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https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/solar-orbiter-mission
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The Solar Orbiter magnetometer | Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)
The magnetometer science team includes 36 co-investigators from ten countries with a broad range of interests in solar, heliospheric, and space plasma physics.
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The Solar Orbiter Radio and Plasma Waves (RPW) instrument
This instrument is designed to measure in-situ magnetic and electric fields and waves from the continuous to a few hundreds of kHz.
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The Solar Orbiter Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) suite
The primary FPGA is directly interfaced with the CPU and the SDRAM, performing all the SWA-DPU communication tasks and the data handling functionalities not ...
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Energetic particle instrument suite for the Solar Orbiter mission
The EPD will measure electrons, protons, and heavy ions with high temporal resolution over a wide energy range, from suprathermal energies up to several ...
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Coordination of the in situ payload of Solar Orbiter
Normal and burst modes. Each of Solar Orbiter's in situ instruments has a broad range of configuration settings that can alter the details of the measurements ...
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ESA's Solar Orbiter ready to study the Sun, heading for Florida
Oct 21, 2019 · In September 2018 Solar Orbiter's final assembly was complete and the spacecraft was shipped to the IABG (Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft ...
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Airbus built Solar Orbiter heads for the Sun in Florida
Oct 18, 2019 · Solar Orbiter, the European Space Agency's (ESA) flagship mission to study the Sun has completed all tests and is set to be flown to Cape ...Missing: assembly | Show results with:assembly
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DLR – Solar Orbiter leaves Europe for the USA
Oct 18, 2019 · The European Solar Orbiter spacecraft was dispatched from Germany on 18 October 2019 and is now on its way to its launch site in Cape Canaveral, ...<|separator|>
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Decades in the making, Solar Orbiter finally meets launcher at Cape ...
Feb 1, 2020 · ... launch scheduled in 2017. But technical difficulties in building the Solar Orbiter spacecraft delayed the mission to 2020. The nearly 3,900 ...<|separator|>
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Atlas 5/Solar Orbiter launch timeline - Spaceflight Now
Feb 9, 2020 · Launch is scheduled 11:03 p.m. EST Sunday (0403 GMT Monday) at the opening of a two-hour launch window. The 189-foot-tall (57.6-meter) rocket ...
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Liftoff for Solar Orbiter, ESA's mission to face the Sun up close
Feb 10, 2020 · Solar Orbiter will take just under two years to reach its initial operational orbit, making use of gravity-assist flybys of Earth and Venus to ...
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Solar Orbiter - ESA Animations - NASA Scientific Visualization Studio
Dec 11, 2019 · Solar Orbiter is an European Space Agency (ESA) mission with strong NASA participation. Its mission is to perform unprecedented close-up observations of the ...Missing: power | Show results with:power
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Solar Orbiter braves challenging early days - ESA
Feb 14, 2020 · The solar arrays were deployed at 06:24 CET and unfolded from the spacecraft's body like wings. They soon began to supply power to the craft, ...
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ESA - Solar Orbiter perihelia and flybys - European Space Agency
A summary of Solar Orbiter close approaches to the Sun (perihelia) and gravity assist flybys. Perihelia 1 AU = 1 Astronomical Unit, or 150 million km.Missing: initial | Show results with:initial
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Launching and operating Solar Orbiter - ESA
Oct 7, 2019 · Solar Orbiter will perform two gravity-assist manoeuvres around Venus and one around Earth to alter the spacecraft's trajectory, guiding it towards the ...Missing: maneuvers | Show results with:maneuvers
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[PDF] Solar Orbiter: Mission Status, Science Highlights and Look-Out for ...
Apr 29, 2025 · As of February 2025 after Venus GAM #4 we entered High Latitude Mission Phase. Page 4. 4. Mission Timeline. Cruise. Nominal ...
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[PDF] Solar Orbiter - ESA Science & Technology
Jul 14, 2011 · The collaboration between ESA and NASA will be documented in a Solar Orbiter Memorandum Of. Understanding (MOU). The details of ...
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Solar Orbiter returns to Earth before starting its main science mission
Nov 18, 2021 · Solar Orbiter's Earth flyby takes place on 27 November. At 04:30 GMT ... Solar Orbiter's riskiest flyby.Missing: date | Show results with:date
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Inventory Plots - Solar Orbiter Archive - ESA Cosmos
Inventory Plots for all instruments and Science Levels. These are indicative plots for the contents of the SOAR as of 3 September 2025. These plots were created ...Missing: size | Show results with:size
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The Solar Orbiter Science Activity Plan - Astronomy & Astrophysics
The NMP will last for five years until the 24 December 2026 after which an Extended Mission Phase (EMP) would be planned for another three years. The high ...
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Multi-source connectivity as the driver of solar wind variability in the ...
May 28, 2024 · Fast solar wind (>500 km s−1) originates and escapes along open magnetic fields rooted in coronal holes (CHs), but slow solar wind sources (≲500 ...
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STIX X-ray microflare observations during the Solar Orbiter ...
We report the first STIX observations of solar microflares recorded during the instrument commissioning phase in order to investigate the STIX performance at ...
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Solar Orbiter provides first glimpse of the sun's polar magnetic field in motion
### Summary of Solar Orbiter Article
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https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2020/10/aa38445-20/aa38445-20.html
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Origin of fast and slow solar wind discovered - MPS
Feb 5, 2025 · For the current study, the researchers now evaluated EUI images of coronal holes together with in situ measurements of the solar wind and ...